Theories

=Theories. =

In //Napoleon Dynamite,// characters are struggling form their own identities of self, and exhibiting typical adolescent behavior. There are many theories related to the development of adolescents, each of the characters can be seen moving through specific phases of adolescent development during the difficult high school years.

Psychosocial Development
As with most high school-age students Napoleon, Pedro, and Deb are all trying to establish their identities. While each of them faces unique struggles, an analysis suggests that they are all experiencing the standard stages of psychosocial development described by Erikson. While a few show some evidence of transitioning into a more advanced stage, the adolescents in the film all exhibit characteristics associated with Erikson’s “identity vs. role confusion” stage. Erikson believed that development occurs after successfully overcoming psychosocial crises, (Snowman, J., McCown, R., Biehler, R, (2009) Chapter 2, Erikson: Psychosocial development, paragraph 3) and //Napoleon Dynamite// is a comic account of a series of such crises

As Napoleon tries to establish a pattern of favorable behavior and, thus, secure a meaningful identity in adult society, he is faced with considerable role confusion. His response to these stresses can be analyzed in terms of the theory developed by Marcia in his expansion of Erikson’s psychosocial development theory. Marcia elaborated on Erikson’s ideas about adolescent identity formation by introducing four “identity statuses:” identity diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, and identity achievement. (Marcia, 2002) When the film begins, Napoleon shows signs of low self esteem, and alienation typical of identity diffusion. This is observable, for example, in his tendency to tell tall tales to impress his peers; in his eagerness to compete with the business success of Kip and Uncle Rico by finding a job; and in the difficulties he has finding a date for the school dance. Napoleon’s doubts about his identity are activated by pressure put on him by his family and peers. His motivation to work at the chicken farm, for example, was the result of his humiliation in the face of the purported business success of Kip and Uncle Rico. Napoleon seems to in a process of achieving an identity through the several personal crises that the film depicts. His participation in the election of Pedro, his success in the Future Farmer’s of America competition, and the culminating success of his dance routine during the campaign rally can all be understood as steps that lead Napoleon toward the status of identity acheivement. By the end of the film, Napoleon establishes healthy self esteem, and is no longer making illogical and irrational decisions that were common at the beginning, as he was trying to gain acceptance. And Napoleon’s formation of close interpersonal relationships with Deb and Pedro point toward the final stages of identity achievement.

Over the years, the issue of gender difference has been introduced into critical discussions of Marcia’s identity status theory. It has been observed that adolescent females more quickly develop mature concepts of family, career roles, and sexuality. Before Napoleon questions his current identity and begins his journey towards identity achievement, Deb has already established a plan to go to college, and she already has an advanced interest in photography. Unlike Napoleon, Deb appears to to have avoided the main pitfalls associated with diffusion and foreclosure. According to Stier, Lewis-Epstein and Braun, females, perhaps for reasons associated with the responsibilities of child-bearing, tend to skip these phases (as cited in Snowman, J., McCown, R, & Biehler, R. 2009) //Napoleon experiencing an accidental stimulus to his nether regions during a "sweet skill" acquisition.//

Cognitive Development
Napoleon exhibits signs of adolescent egocentrism during his identity crisis. He is preoccupied with himself and how he is perceived by others. Napoleon is constantly trying to impress peers and adults with sensational stories about imagined exploits and through efforts to acquire “sweet skills”. This reflects an adolescent tendency, described by Snowman, et al., when they observe that “Because adolescents are preoccupied with themselves and how they appear to others they assume that peers and adults are equally interested in what they think and do.” (Snowman,J., McCown, R., & Biehler, R., 2009, Chapter 2). On the several occasions when Uncle Rico makes Napoleon seem childish, he becomes almost wildly embarrassed and angry, physically lashing out. Because, like the typical adolescent, Napoleon believes everyone is watching (“Because of you, everyone thinks I’m an idiot!”) Uncle Rico’s offenses are magnified in Napoleon’s mind. Such offenses against Napoleon’s self-image are especially galling to him, because they involve his status with his peers.

As is the case with most adolescents, Napoleon seems to view his peers as the most significant and influential people in his life; compared with them, family and adults are almost marginal figures. //Napoleon Dynamite// can be truly described as the story of young man’s attempt to gain the acceptance of his peers, especially those in his close peer group. Napoleon brags about his accomplishments and his sweet skills. Pedro and Napoleon both try to do stunts on Pedro's bicycle in an attempt to impress one another, and they make outlandish gestures in attempts to get dates by baking cakes and drawing portaits. Elkind's description of the powerful influence of peer groups on adolescent behavior is of interest in this context:

//Adolescent egocentrism...accounts, in part, for the power of the peer group during this period. The adolescent is so concerned with the reactions of others toward him particularly his peers, that he is willing to do many things which are opposed to all of his previous training and to his own best interests. At the same time, this egocentric impression that he is always on stage may help to account for the many and varied adolescent attention-getting maneuvers. (1968, p. 154) //

Piaget feels that these social interactions between peers are more important to cognitive development than interaction with adults. Viewed from this perspective, the characters in this movie demonstrate the tendency of adolescents to experience cognitive changes— i.e., the development of higher level reasoning, and more significant problem-solving skills—that, according to Piaget, begin with the disequilibrium caused by these peer interactions. In other words, Adolescents must develop higher level reasoning skills to deal with crises that involve meaningful peer interaction. Learning how to be accepted by others requires a great deal of cognitive reasoning as part of the processes of interpreting and adapting to emotions and change. Adolescent egocentrism is an important component in the adolescent’s development of cognitive reasoning skills

Moral Development
The idea of moral character figured into a number of scenes in //Napoleon Dynamite.// Towards the beginning of the film, Napoleon's morality seemed under-developed for his age. He acts in a manner that accords with the stage of moral development that Piaget describes as the instrumental relativist orientation, in which the child bases decisions strictly on the satisfaction of basic needs. We see this in Napoleon’s lying to impress others, and in his claim that if Pedro is going to be his friend there must be some associated“benefits.” Most of Napoleon's behavior is calculated to impress other people. We see this pattern of behavior when he tries to mentor Pedro as a new student, as well as in his clumst (and hilarious) attempt to pay Deb a high compliment by giving her the unsolicited information that she isn’t fat and could be drinking whole milk instead of 2 percent. His disgust over the untoward behavior of Uncle Rico reflects, what Lawrence Kohlberg calls, in his expansion on Piaget's work, the “good boy nice girl mentality”(Snowman, J., McCown, R., & Biehler, R., 2009, p.57)

Pedro exhibits signs of being in the fourth stage of Piaget's scheme of moral development, which is characterized by respect for authority. It is also apparent when he is justifying his decisions in to make a piñata as a sort of effigy of his political opponent. He doesn't rationize the morality of this act based on the consequences to Summer Wheatley, but merely analyzes the act according to his own rather simplistic understanding of rules. He says “they do it in Mexico all the time,” a type of justification consistent with Piaget’s "law and order"orientation (Snowman, J., McCown, R., & Biehler, R., 2009, p.58).